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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN. 1920, No. 9 



THE 

FEASIBILITY OF CONSOLIDATING THE 

SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP 

ADAMS COUNTY, PA. 



By 



KATHERINE M. COOK and W. S. DEFFENBAUGH 

SPECIALISTS IN RURAL EDUCATION 
BUREAU OF EDUCATION 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1920 



Wono^pt^ 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

I BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN. 1920. No. 9 



THE 

FEASIBILITY OF CONSOLIDATING THE 

SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP 

ADAMS COUNTY, PA. 



By 



KATHERINE M. COOK and W. S. DEFFENBAUGH 

SPECIALISTS IN RURAL EDUCATION 
BUREAU OF EDUCATION 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1920 



.C4 



ADDITIONAL COPIES 

OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM 

THE SUPERINTENDENT OP DOCUMENTS 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

■WASHINGTON, D. C. 

AT 

5 CENTS PER COPY 
V 



f). Of ^. 
SEP 1@ 1920 



SCALE 




Pupils 
Names of schools. enrolled. 

1. Wliite Run 28 

2. Two Taverns 48 

3. Fair View 24 

4. Oak Grove 28 

5. Pleasant Grove 34 

6. Edge Grove 24 

7. Homer's 60 



Transportation routes indicated by arrows. 
Families with children of school age by dots. 
Roads by black lines. 
Turnpikes by heavy black lines. 
Mile circles by black lines. 



THE FEASIBILITY OF CONSOLIDATING THE SCHOOLS OF MOUNT 
JOY TOWNSHIP, ADAMS COUNTY, PA. 



Contents. — General and educational conditions in Mount Joy Township — Some de- 
ficiencies of the school system — Consolidation the obvious remedy — Some results 
which may be expected if consolidation is adopted — Consolidation in other 
States — Summary of recommendations. 



I. GENERAL AND EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS IN THE 

TOWNSfflP. 

Mount Joy Township is located in southeastern Pennsylvania, in 
Adams County. It is immediately adjacent to the historic battle- 
field and town of Gettysburg. Though irregular in shape, it averages 
about 5 miles from north to south and 4§ miles from east to west, 
and contains approximately 36 square miles. The population of 
the township in 1910 was 1,178. For the school year 1918-19 the 
number of families having children enrolled is 126; the census enimier- 
ation of children of school age, 280; and the total enrollment, 240, 
The population is practically all native white, of German and Dutch 
descent. The soil is productive, the surface level. It is a farming 
community exclusively, the people being engaged in general farming, 
dairying, and stock raising — especially cattle and hogs. One good 
macadamized road runs through the northern part of the township. 
(See map.) There is a rural mail route by which, in addition to 
regular local delivery, the community is in direct connection with 
community center trading points in Washington. A heavy truck 
makes the round trip between Washington and Gettysbm"g three 
times a week, bringing farm products directly to Washington con- 
sumers. Cooperative buying is done on a small scale by the farmers' 
organization. There is no town or village in the township, but 
there are several stores. At one of these, located near Two Tav- 
erns, formerly a stage station, is the post office. 

The community shows every evidence of comfort and i3rosperity. 
Farmhouses are large and weU kept, barns are commodious, with 
room for cattle and horses and storage places where grain and hay 
are kept in large quantities for consumption on the farmstead rather 
than for transport and sale. The majority of the farms are well 
equipped with machine sheds, chicken coops, hog houses and pens, 

3 



4 SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 

and the like. The houses and barns are, generally speaking, well 
painted and in good condition. General cleanliness, good upkeep, 
attractive grounds characterize the homes in the community. A 
large percentage are equipped with modern conveniences, such as 
electric light and power, hot and cold water piped throughout the 
house or in the kitchen and bathroom. Tractors and various kinds 
of modern farm machinery are seen at work on the farms as one- 
drives along the roads of the township. 

The educational interests of the children of the commimity are 
served by seven schoolhouses of the one-room, one-teacher type. 
None of these is modern; the newest is 21 years old. Some of them 
served the parents and the grandparents of the children now attend- 
ing them. They are rectangular in shape, of the typical box-car 
variety, with windows on two sides and one end. The buildings are 
not of exactly the same size, but they are nearly so, and are all built 
on the same plan. Each has about 24 by 32 feet of floor space; three 
windows about 3 feet wide by 6 feet high, placed at approximately 
equal intervals along each side, and a door at one end of the building 
with a window at each side of it. The schools, with the exception 
of two, are fitted with jacketed stoves, providing comfortable heating 
and good ventilation. The desks, however, are of the old-fashioned 
double type, neither comfortable nor hygienic, and cross lights 
come from three directions from windows placed without regard 
to proper spacing. 

Physical education, either in the sense of imparting knowledge 
concerning it or of providing surroundings which instill this knowl- 
edge by example as well as by precept, is entirely neglected. None 
of the schools has grounds either ample for or adapted to play and 
games. There is no playground equipment in an}^ of the school 
plants. Water is in aU cases brought from the neighboring farms. 
Toilets are in good condition. The whole school plant is in no sense 
a credit to the community and is inferior in every way to the best 
farmhouses. 

The organization of schoolroom activities is no more in harmony 
with modern ideas of educational practice and method. In the 
matter of qualifications of teachers, grading of classes, division of 
time, content of the curriculum, and general community service, the 
facilities furnished are imequal to the demands of the new* education 
for rural life and unadapted to the social and economic or the intel- 
lectual needs of the community. In fact, no one-room, one-teacher 
sf'hool can fill the place which the people have a right to expect for 
their own and their children's educational welfare in communities 
in which conditions are such as to make better organization possible. 

The one-room schools oi Mount Joy Township belong to the pioneer 
era of that township when farmers reaped wheat ^ith a sickle, 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. O 

threshed it with a flail, cut grass with a scythe and raked it with a 
hand rake; when it took all day for a farmer to go to Gettysburg and 
return home, when he had to go to the post office for his mail, when 
he ate his breakfast and his evening meal by the light of a tallow 
candle. All the pioneer conditions in Mount Joy Township have 
passed away except the seven little schoolhouses which stand out as 
solitary landmarks of former days. 



n. SOME DEFICIENCIES OF THE PRESENT SCHOOL SYSTEM. 

The present organization ineffective. — The standard of school 
organization in Pennsylvania is eight elementary and four high- 
school grades, in which the pupils spend one year to each grade or 
12 years for the course. The course of study in a modern consolidated 
school in the country embraces the common branches taught in their 
relation to the experiences of country children, and in addition 
agriculture, nature study, domestic science and art, physical educa- 
tion, hygiene, citizenship, hand work, and industrial and fine arts. 
For the best results this eight-grade organization of the elementary 
schools demands a teacher to a grade where possible, or not less than 
one teacher to two grades if the enrollment does not justify more. 
It requires teachers who spend the school day in close contact with 
the children under their charge, who have not more than 10 recita- 
tions each, and who have opportimity for supervising work and 
study and for giving attention and help to individual pupils. 

The schools in Mount Joy Township follow this organization of 
eight grades nominally but without the possibility of making it 
effective. The result is that the teachers divide their time among 
eight grades with from two to eight subjects in each grade, and the 
total number of recitations in each school varies from 23 to 26 
(Table 1) ; the teachers have no time for individual work, for super- 
vising study, nor for the newer subjects in the educational program. 
The children spend several hours a day on their own resources at 
an early age before they know how to study or to employ them- 
selves in any useful occupation. Without the supervision of the 
teacher, they are idle much of the time and form bad habits of 
study which are difficult to eradicate during the remainder of school 
life. Few teachers are qualified by nature, education, and training 
to teach all the grades. A teacher may succeed with children in the 
primary grades but fail in the upper grades; and a successful gram- 
mar grade teacher may be a poor primary teacher. 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 
Table 1. — Number of daily recitations. 



School. 



Daily 
recita- 
tions. 



Two Taverns... 
Pleasant Grove. 

White Run 

Edge Grove 

Horner's 

Fair View 

Oak Grove 



Data gathered from the teachers' reports in the township show 
that 52 per cent of the recitations (see Table 7) are 10 minutes or 
less in length, 41 per cent 15 minutes, and 7 per cent 20 minutes or 
more. In practice the recitation periods are not so long as indicated 
on the programs, since several minutes are consumed after each 
period for changing classes and other necessary purposes. Of the 
total number of recitations reported in the seven schools, there is 
but one of 30 minutes' duration. All recitations from the sixth 
grade up, at least, especially in such subjects as literature and 
history, should have 30 minutes or more. In the lower grades, 
recitation periods of from 15 to 25 minutes are probably long enough, 
but the programs of the Mount Joy schools show there are in these 
grades too few periods even of the 10 or 15 minute kind. The 
primary children have the attention of the teacher only about 60 
minutes a day. They are in school 5 hours, or 300 minutes. This 
leaves 240 minutes, theoretically for study, reaUy for idleness, since 
primary children do not know how to study. Even the older children 
have much idle time. Pupils in the upper grades having the follow- 
ing subjects, reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling, grammar, geog- 
raphy, history and music, are occupied in recitations only 120 
minutes a day. They have 180 minutes to use in study or in some 
other way. A few of the ambitious ones may make the most of 
their opportunity to study, but there are usually few who do so, 
and even these attack their lessons in a haphazard way because the 
teacher has not had time to make lesson assignments, to call the 
attention of the pupils to the difficulties and important points in 
the lessons assigned, or to supervise the study periods. 

The excessive number of recitations a day shown in the programs 
makes it impossible for the teacher to prepare her lessons. Modem 
school teaching demands daily preparation on the part of the teacher, 
no matter how many ;^ears she has taught or how well prepared she 
may be. The number of pupils in a class does not diminish the 
amount of preparation necessary. A class of 5 demands as much as 
a class of 15. The teacher in the one-room school is too apt to 
call classes one after another, ask a few questions to see whether 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 7 

the pupils have studied the lesson, and then assign a few problems 
in arithmetic, a page or two of history, or the next selection in the 
reader for the next recitation. Supplementing the text or introduc- 
ing illustrative material is omitted because of lack of time and equip- 
ment and the necessity to hurry from one recitation to another. 

The term is too short to enable pupils, even if under expert instruc- 
tion, to complete the work of a grade as mapped out in a city or 
consolidated school. Nine months is the shortest time in which the 
work of any grade can be accomplished, even under advantageous 
circumstances. To aim to cover in seven months the work planned 
for nine, means superficial teaching, neglect of important topics, an 
incomplete program, and a smattering of information rather than 
sound training of judgment and initiative through school instruction. 
If the seven months' term must continue, the course should be so 
organized as to outline work corresponding with the length of the 
term, but a progressive community should provide for a nine months' 
term at the earliest possible date. 

Training and salary of teachers entirely inadequate. — Low salaries 
usually result in the employment of teachers with little or no pro- 
fessional training. This fact is exemplified in Mount Joy Township. 
The best preparation shown by the teachers (Table 2) appears to be 
graduation from high school, with three spring terms at a normal 
school. None of the teachers has the equivalent of full normal school 
training, and none has attended at any time a college or university. 
One has had only elementary schoohng. The normal schoo^ training 
of two was apparently given without any previous high-school work. 
Five of the seven teachers hold the lowest grade of certificate granted 
in the State (see Table 2). The condition is easily explained by 
reference to the column which shows salaries paid. The term is 
seven months. The annual salaries, $310 paid to four teachers, 
$385 to two, and $420 to one, offer no incentive to spend time and . 
money in securing professional preparation. It is axiomatic that 
only better salaries wiU secure and keep properly trained and ex- 
perienced teachers. 

It is an unfortunate fact that the one-teacher school usually 
appeals only to uneducated, imtrained, and inexperienced teachers. 
In the majority of cities and even in small towns and progressive 
rural communities throughout the country the accepted minimum of 
education and professional training required of reachers is graduation 
from a standard normal school which gives two years of professional 
work based on a four-year high-school com'se. Teaching is tending to 
become a profession as important as that of medicine and law. The 
physical, mental, and spiritual welfare of children throughout their 
formative years should be intrusted only to those qualified by ex- 
perience and training for so important a responsibility. 
168873°— 20 2 



8 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWXSHIP, PA. 

Table 2. — Teachers' salaries and qualifications. 





Salary per 
month. 


Annual 
salary. 


Experience, 

in school 

terms. 


Kind of 
certificate. 


Education. 


School. 


Years in 
high school. 


Normal school. 


Pine Grove 

Edge Grove 


S55 
45 
65 
45 
60 
45 
45 


S385 
315 
385 
315 
420 
315 
315 


4 
1 
7 

3 

1 


Professional... 
Provisional . . . 


None 

. do. ... 


2 terms. 
One year. 

Three spring terms. 
Do. 


Homer's 


do 

do 


Graduate.. 
...do 


Two Taverns 


White Run 

Fair View. . . 


Permanent 

Provisional 

do 


None 1 

One year.. 
Graduate . 


None. 

Two spring terms. 


Oak View 







1 This teacher has attended elementary school only. 

Attendance an important J actor. — No factor in a school system is of 
greater importance than regularity of attendance, since that measm'es 
the extent to which the system is utihzed by the pnbhc. A system 
well organized and carefully administered and supervised will enroll 
and keep in regular attendance a large percentage of the school popu- 
lation. Indifferent organization, poor management, and inadequate 
supervision are reflected immediately in school attendance. Good 
management and efficient teaching results not alone in increased re- 
spect for the school on the part of the children and the community, 
but in added interest, because larger numbers and practical school 
work appeal to the children. Poor attendance is remedied best by 
good teaching and good management. The latter includes a careful 
method of checking up nonattending pupils and giving substantial 
assistance in action leading to the enforcement of the compulsory 
school attendance law when necessary. 

Table 3.^ — Attendance. 



Pupils. 



Boys. 



Age in 
1912-13. 



Days attended. 



1912-13 1913-14 1914-15 1915-16 1916-1 



44 

24 
140 

70.5 
100 

98 

88 
132.5 
113.5 

63.5 



127 

42 
116 

87 
129 
111 
114 
140 

82 

85 

79.5 



130 

70 
124 

69 

95 

63.5 
114 
119 

82 

68.5 



110 
101 
135 
92 
93 
90 
92 
115 
68 
85 
82 



108 

71 

74.5 

69 

99 

54.5 
106 

84 

60 

35 

77.5 



1917-18 1918-19 



89 

88.5 

99 

62.5 

81 

72 

98 

73 

14.5 

38 

70.5 



Average of all boys . 
Oirls. 



7 


138 


128 


133 


102 


126 


20 


7 


130.5 


140 


125.5 


139 


130 


85 


8 


140 


124 


132 


130 


68.5 


75 


9 


140 


140 


140 


140 


140 


105 


10 


92 


124 


129 


117 


107 


86.5 


11 


132 


116.5 


97.5 


91 


85 


44 



Average of all girls 

Average of all boys and girls. 



9.5 

71 

105 



60 



52 



117 
107 
100 
25 
40 
40 



Total 
days. 



703 

467.5 

793.5 

515 

674 

549 

700 

717 

434 

381 

536.5 



587.3 



764 

860 

769. 5 

830 

695.5 

606 



754 



646.2 



Attendance is 

equivalent to 

years of— 



140 
days 
each. 



Years. 
5.0 
3.3 
5.7 
3.7 
4.8 
3.9 
5.0 
.5.1 
3.1 
2.7 
3.8 



4.2 



5.4 
6.1 
6.4 
5.9 
4.9 
4.3 



5.4 



180 
days 
each 



Years, 
3.4 
2.6 
4.4 
2.9 
3.7 
3.0 
3.9 
3.9 
2.4 
2.1 
2.9 



3.3 



4.3 
4.8 
4.3 
4.6 
3.9 
3.4 



4.3 



3.6 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 



The Mount Joy schools succeeded in enrollmg a fairly good per- 
centage of the school population, but attendance of those enrolled 
is poor. Since the school term is only seven months long, it is 
particularly desirable and necessary that children should attend 
regularly during the full term of 140 days. Barring illness of the 
individual or in the family, there is seldom any good reason why 
children should not be in school during every day for the full seven 
months. Table 4 shows attendance in all of the seven schools in 
some detail. More than half of the children enrolled (57 per cent) 
attend onl}^ about five of the seven months school is in ses- 
sion, and a little more than one-fourth of those enrolled (25.6 per 
cent) attend only about three and one-half months, or half the school 
term. Table 3 shows the number of days attended by 17 pupils 
in one school for seven years. Based on 140 and on 180 days to 
the year the average number of years attended was equivalent to 
4.5 and 3.6 respectively. 

A class register of one of the schools for the year 1917-18 is shown 
on page 10. From this it is evident that attendance is poor. An 
examination of the teachers' registers in all the schools of the town- 
ship shows that 28 per cent of the children enrolled did not comply 
with the provisions of the State compulsory attendance law. 





Table 4.- 


—Attendance, 


Mount Joy Township. 




Days attended. 


Number 

of 
pupils. 




1-5 


2 

4 

2 

1 

8 

1 

2 

4 

3 

4 
10 

5 

4 

9 

9 
11 
10 

5 

11 1 
16 1 
14 
20 
14 
11 
17 
21 

9 
11 


8.7 per cent attended less than 35 days, 
one-fourth of school term. 

25.6 per cent attended less than 70 days, 
one-half of school term. 

57.1 per cent attended less than 105 days, 
three-fourths of school term. 




6-10 




11-15 




16-20 


which is 


21-25 




26-30 




31-35 




36-40 




41-t5 




46-50 




51-55 


which is 


56-60 




61-65 




66-70 




71-75 




76-80 




81-85 




86-90 


which is 


91-95 




96-100 




101-105 




106-110 




111-115 




116-120 




121-125 




126-130 


*■ 






131-135 




136-140 - 












Total. 


240 









10 



SCHOOLS OF MOUITT JOY TOWISTSHIP, PA. 



Curnculum not organized to 'prejpare for life. — The most disastrous 
result of the one-teacher school, perhaps, comes from its utter in- 
ability to meet the demands of modem school curricula as to con- 
tent. Located in the midst of a prosperous agricultural community, 
the schools of Mount Joy Township fail to teach any modern subjects 
or to adjust the adopted city curriculum to the needs of country 
life or to preparation for modern country living in any adequate 
sense. The reports of the teachers show that their programs do not 
provide for music, art, physical education, citizenship, hygiene, or 




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Class Register— black show absences. 

others of the newer subjects. The curriculum is necessarily confine 
to the three R's. Authorities in education are agreed that the de- 
mands of modern life can not be met by such training. Preparation 
for hving includes a far wider range in both vocational and cultural 
subjects. The nature of the resourSes of the township calls for a 
wider range of intelligence for the people of the commimity, better 
social and cooperative arrangements, and a well devised, liberal, and 
well-supported school system for practical, cultural, and vocational 
education. Not only does such education bring rich reward, but lack 
of it leads to unfortunate results. While effective methods of agri- 
culture are carried on in the community, it is largely because of tradi- 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 11 

tion and because the people are by nature capable, resourceful, and 
progressive. Certainly they are not awake to the real place of modern 
education in the economic advancement of the community, nor its 
influence in promoting the richness and beauty and fullness of rural 
life. 

Such observations as the committee were able to make, and such 
information as they gleaned from the authorities and residents of the 
community, point to a serious condition in regard to the young people 
of the community. The one- teacher schools which they have attended 
offer no vocational or prevocational courses designated to give spe- 
cific help to boys and girls in making a living either in the country 
or the city. The barren curriculum, and the ineffective attempt 
of one teacher to accomplish for eight grades what eight teachers 
are needed to accomplish in city schools, magnify in the minds 
of country children the value of city efforts of all kinds as com- 
pared with those of the country. Even in the limited field covered, 
little training of the practical sort is possible. The young people who 
drop out of school at the close of the elementary course given in one- 
teacher schools are therefore left at the threshold of a career without 
systematic preparation for farming as a vocation and with an ex- 
aggerated idea of the advantages of city life for which they are equally 
unprepared. Few remain on the farms; here as elsewhere in like cir- 
cumstances they seek positions which demand no special training and 
skill in the factories of the near-by towns. Such positions, while 
lucrative in the beginning, offer little opportunity for the future. 

High-school facilities inadequate. — No high-school instruction is 
given in the township schools. During the school year just closed 10 
pupils from the community were enrolled in the high schools of towns 
in other townships. For these the district pays tuition, for each 
pupil S5 a month or $45 for the term, while individuals furnish their 
own transportation or living expenses as necessity or convenience 
demands. This is probably the wisest provision possible under the 
circumstances. No doubt, however, it results in depriving many of 
the advantages of secondary education. Not many parents will as- 
sume the expense of boarding their children away from home. Not 
many boys and girls will drive in their own private conveyances 
long distances to schools. Besides the injustice done to those who 
are deprived of high-school advantages, obviously those who attend 
the town and city high schools do not receive the kind of education 
which fits them to follow farming as a life work. They, therefore, 
drift into a variety of vocations. Relatively few, especially among 
the best educated and most capable, return to the farms. It is even 
possible that the welfare of the township is jeopardized by failure 
to retain the best and most progressive of its population. 



12 SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 

The inappropriate courses of study in the grades, and the fact 
that education for many ceases when the grades are completed, con- 
spire to drive into towns and cities many who by inchnation and 
ability would find a more wholesome and satisfying life in the 
country. 

TJie schools Tiot adequately fivxinced. — ^Mount Joy is not unique among 
rural districts in spending far too little money on education. A com- 
parison of township and borough taxes in Adams County, Pa., shows 
that a higher tax rate is exacted in all the boroughs of the county 
except one. It is a common condition throughout the country to 
find cities and towns paying a far higher rate of taxation for school 
purposes than country communities. Mount Joy is prosperous and 
progressive in matters other than educational. Yet the rate for 
school support is only 5 mills. On a tax valuation of approximately 
$500,000 the township itself raised from local taxes last year $2,696 
for the support of its schools. This represents for the year 1918-19 
$9.63 per census child, $11.24 per pupil enrolled, and $17.95 per 
pupil in average daily attendance. If the total amount raised by 
township taxation for school purposes were divided equally among 
the 372 taxpayers, it would amount to less than $7.25 per capita. 
Many, of course, pay far less than this amount. However, only 17, 
or 4.5 per cent of the total number of taxpayers, pay taxes on valua- 
tion of $5,000 or more, or $25 or more property school tax; 13 per 
cent pay between $5 and $25, on a property valuation between $1,000 
and $5,000; and 24 per cent pay less than $5 on property valuation 
of less than $1,000. The remaining 58 per cent pay tax on occupa- 
tion and stock. The State of Pennsylvania contributed in the same 
year $1,208, or 30 per cent of the total expenditure for school purposes. 

The total amount spent for schools in the township from State 
appropriations and local taxation is $4,229, or $15 per capita on school 
census, $17 on enrollment, and $28 on average daily attendance. 
The State of Pennsylvania expends $34 per school census child, $42 
for each child enrolled, and $46 for each child in average daily 
attendance. 

It is obvious that the community is not burdened with excessive 
school taxation and that the people are not paying enough to justify 
the expectation of supplying good school facilities. It is also certain 
that the community can well afford a more liberal tax rate for a 
matter so vital as public education. The coromunity shows every 
sign of prosperity and thrift, and has the ability to do far more in 
education than it does; splendid homes, commodious barns, modern 
farm machinery, abundant crops, thoroughbred cattle and hogs, and 
lands worth $100 per acre and more, all indicate that the com- 
munity can well afford to give the children educational advantages 
above, rather than below the average. 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 13 

m. CONSOLIDATION THE OBVIOUS REMEDY. 

The population of Mount Joy is relatively compact, and considered 
from the standpoint of possible consolidation the township itself is 
small in area and regular in shape. There are no impassable hills or 
streams. One school located in the vicinity of Two Taverns would 
accommodate all the children and be far more advantageous than 
consolidation on any smaller scale. 

The most important questions which present themselves in con- 
sidering a plan to unite the seven schools are: 

1. Are the physical conditions in the township such as permit trans- 

porting children who live beyond easy walking distance ? 

2. Can the township meet the financial obligations involved ? 

1. Transjyortation of children. — In considering the first question one 
may keep in mind that experience throughout the country justifies 
the expectation that children within 2 miles of a schoolhouse may be 
considered in walking distance and those within 9 miles in transporta- 
tion distance. 

By referring to the frontispiece map, it will be seen that a turnpike 
runs through the northern part of the township and that four of the 
seven schools are on or near the turnpike. Two Taverns, the place 
proposed for the school, is near the halfway point. The problem of 
consolidating the four schools on this road is easy of solution, since 
no children attending the schools on the pike would have to be trans- 
ported more than 3 miles. Many are within walking distance. 

The three remaining schools are situated in the southern part of 
the township, none more than 5 miles from Two Taverns, where the 
roads from all the schools converge. These roads, while not the best, 
are passable for wagons the entire year. It would be necessary to 
improve them somewhat for transportation by automobile during the 
months when the roads are muddy. The transportation routes will 
all be short. If the auto bus were to go a mile beyond the most dis- 
tant schoolhouse, the route would be only about 5 miles in length. 
This distance for an auto bus is very short and could be covered in 
from 30 to 40 minutes. 

The number of auto busses necessary to transport the children to 
school at Two Taverns can be definitely decided only by experiment. 
The total enrollment for the township is 246. Of these, 48 attend 
the school at Two Taverns and 24 at Fairview, a mile away; none of 
these children would have to be transported. Probably some of those 
attending the Pleasant Grove school could walk to the consolidated 
school. This would leave a total of 170 children that should be 
transported. In the three schools in the southern part of the town- 
ship, 112 children are enrolled. To transport these and those living 
on or near the turnpike, three auto busses each hauling from 25 to 



14 SCHOOLS OF MOTJNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 

30 children would be necessary. Since the hauls are short, each bus 
could make two trips both morning and evening. If the three trucks 
were to start in the southern part of the township, taking those 
farthest away from Two Taverns first, they could bring in all but 25 
or 30 children on one trip. One truck could then return for the 
remaining 25 or 30 children. In the meantime the two other trucks 
could coUect the children living along the turnpike. All this could 
be done in about an hour. In the afternoon aU the children could 
be at home at 5 o'clock if school were dismissed at 3,30 or 4 o'clock? 
The wagons or trucks should run on regular schedule, waiting not 
more than five minutes at any meeting point. It would not be 
necessary or desirable to call at each home. 

If trucks carrying 40 to 50 children were used, two would be suffi- 
cient. Trucks of this size are in use in Ontelaunee Township, Berks 
County, Pa., where one truck carrying 48 children transports from 90 
to 100 children a day, the longest route being 10 miles. This truck 
makes two trips, morning and evenmg. If two such trucks were 
purchased for Mount Joy Township two trips would be necessary 
morning and evening. They could start in the southern part of the 
township and carry about 80 children to Two Taverns, one truck 
could return for the remaining 40, The other truck during this time 
could coUect the children living along the turnpike. 

These two plans are suggested on the supposition that the town- 
ship will transport the children. It may be that parents wiU prefer 
to provide private transportation for their children. No doubt many 
would do so, thus reducing the number to be transported at pubUc 
expense. 

Possible transportation routes are indicated on the map. Before 
permanent routes can be determined, actual trials must be made to 
see which are the most feasible, 

2. Two financial obligations involved. — The plan of consolidation 
will be dejDendent for its success on the willingness of the citizens to 
assume increased expenditure for schools. The initial outlay would 
be in the neighborhood of $55,000, divided approximately as fol- 
lows: Buildings and grounds (10 acres), $50,000; two motor trucks, 
$5,000. This amount shoidd be raised by a bond issue. If the com- 
munity is satisfied with the present term of seven months, and if it 
continues to pay teachers the minimum salary required by the State 
law, the annual expenditure under consolidation would be approxi- 
mately as estimated below. vSuch a plan is not recommended. It 
is merely given here to show the minimum possible cost for the 
consolidated school. Higher salaries should be paid in order to 
secure better prepared teachers and a principal, and the term should 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 16 

be extended to at least nine months. For children under 12 years 
of age, it might well be 44 or 48 weeks. 

Office of Bchool board $175 

Salary of principal 900 

Salary of three teachers holding professional or normal school certificates, for 

seven months' term (same term as at present) 1 1, 470 

Salary of three teachers holding noi-mal school or college diplomas ^ 1, 680 

Janitor 300 

Fuel, etc 2 373 

Books and supplies 2 ]^3q 

Repairs 60 

Upkeep and auto buses l, 200 

Pay of two drivers 800 

Interest on bonds at 5 per cent 2, 750 

Sinking fund 1, 000 

Total 10, 843 

From the above should be deducted $400, one-half cost of trans- 
portation, which the State pays; $682, the State's share of teachers' 
salaries^; and the usual State appropriation, which last year was 
$1,208; or a total of $2,290, leaving $8,553 to be raised by taxation, 
which will require a levy of 14.4 mills, say 15, on the present valuation 
of $592,595. If the children were to provide their own transpor- 
tation, which may be possible, the cost of running the schools would 
be reduced about $2,000 a year. But to require this would be very- 
unwise. The total cost would then be much greater, for many it 
w^ould be a great hardship, and for some practically impossible. If 
the school tax in Mount Joy were increased to 14 mills, property as- 
sessed at $5,000 would be taxed $70 for school purposes, an increase 
of $45 over the amount paid at the present 5-mill rate. If valuations 
continue to run as at present, only 17 taxpayers whose properties 
are assessed at $5,000 or more would have to meet this or a larger 
increase. On the present low valuation a tax rate of 15 mills for 
schools is not excessive. Many districts in Pennsylvania have a 
levy of 15 or more mills for school purposes. 



IV. SOME RESULTS WHICH MAY BE EXPECTED FROM 

CONSOLIDATION. 

The school plant. — Consolidation of the seven schoolhouses of the 
township would make possible the erection of a modern schoolhouse, 
built according to the best available plans for sanitation, comfort, 
and convenience, and embodying modern ideals for artistic effect. It 
should be good of its kind, but an expensive building is not necessary. 

1 Estimate made on basis of Pennsylvania new TninimnTn salary law. 2 Same as for 1918. 



16 SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 

If built on the community plan, future needs of the district may be 
met as they arise and full high-school facOities provided when needed. 
A school population of 280 children should give in time a high-school 
enrollment of 50 or more. The building should have an auditorium 
suitable not alone for school use but for community use as well. AU 
the recreational activities of the township might well center in the 
school building. All community organizations, such as the enlarge- 
ment of the cooperative buying and selling plan now carried on, 
public lectures, moving-picture shows, concerts, and other entertain- 
ments, public discussions of school questions, and all other questions 
of common interest might well take place here. 

If there were a consolidated school, a township library would be 
possible where books would be available for both children and adults. 
Lecture courses on popular subjects, political questions, agricultural 
topics, health problems, and other things in which the people have a 
common interest could be maintained. These activities, with a 
strong community organization, could be made of great power in 
promoting common enlightenment and enjoyment of the people of 
the community. 

The grounds provided should be carefully selected and should rival 
in upkeep the best farmyards in the township. At least 10 acres, 
preferably more, are necessary to provide space for garden plats and 
farm demonstration plats, ample playgrounds for the smaller children, 
and space for games for the older children and adults. If all the 
children of the township attend the same school, it will be possible to 
form football, basketball, and baseball teams. The physical educa- 
tion and play of the school should be supervised by one of the teachers 
selected because of special fitness for this kind of work. Children 
who learn to cooperate in school through games continue the habit 
in after life and are more apt to become cooperative farmers. Their 
social life and outlook broaden with the widening of the community. 
Leaders are developed because larger contacts are possible, and 
opportunity is given each to measure himself against his peers and 
to develop his own ability. 

The schoolroom activities. — The evils resulting from the excessive 
number of recitations previously referred to are remedied best by 
a consolidated school. If the seven schools of the township were 
combined and graded, there would be one or two grades in a room. 
The number of recitations a day for each teacher would be reduced to 
approximately 10, the average time for each more than doubled in 
the upper grades, and the opportunity for more and longer recitations 
given in the primary grades. The teachers would have more time 
to make thorough preparation and to plan the work for each grade 
and each recitation. In order better to contrast conditions in regard 
to distribution of time under consolidation and under the one- 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 



17 



teacher organization, the programs used in Mount Joy schools during 
the school year just closed are all shown here, and a program in 
actual use in a consolidated school. Examination of these shows a 
marked contrast in the distribution of the teacher's time among 
recitation periods. It is noticeable also that in the program of the 
consolidated school much time is devoted to the newer subjects 
referred to elsewhere. 

While it is not possible nor desirable to outlme a working program 
or a definite scheme for time distribution for Mount Joy until the 
consolidated school is organized, the following is suggested as an 
indication of what may be expected: Primary grades — reading and 
spelling, 80 minutes; number and construction, 50 minutes; history 
and nature study, 50 minutes; general exercise, including drawing, 
writing, and music, 60 minutes; play and physical training, not 
including noon period, 60 minutes. Intermediate and grammar 
grades — arithmetic and constructive geometry, 70 minutes; reading, 
spelling, and language, 60 minutes; elementary science, history, 
and geography, 60 minutes; physical training, 30 minutes; special 
work (music, agriculture, drawing, home economics), 80 minutes. 

Table 6. — Seventh and eighth grade program in a consolidated school. 



Length of 
recitation. 


Hour of day. 


Days and suhjects. 

« 


Minutes. 
90 


a. m. 
9.00-10.30 


Monday. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday — Reading and arithme- 


70 


10.50-12.00 


tic, 'fhiu'sday— Music, drawing. 
Friday — Sewing and manual training. 


55 


10.50-11.45 


Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday , and Thursday— Civics and history. 
Monday and Wednesday — Physical exercises. Tuesday, Wednes- 


15 


11.45-12.00 


90 


p. m. 
1.00-2.30 


day, and Thin-sday— Physiology. 
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday — Reading, language, 


90 


2.30-4.00 


writing. Tuesday— Sewing arid manual training. 
Intermission, agriculture, cooking, sewing, shop work, and free time. 









Table 7. — Daily programs of the schools of Mount Joy Toivnship. 
TWO TAVERNS. 



Subjects. 


Hour. 


Length 
Of recita- 
tion, in 
minutes. 


Opening exercises 


8. 30- 8. 40 
8. 40- 8. 55 

8. .5.5- 9. 15 
9. 15- 9. 30 
9. 30- 9. 40 
9. 40- 9. 50 

9. 50-10. 00 
10. 00-10. 15 
10. 15-10. 25 
10. 25-10. 35 
10. 35-10. 45 
10. 45-1 L 10 
11.10-11.30 
11.30-12.30 
12. 30-12. 50 
12. 50- 1. 05 


10 


Primary reading 


15 


A Arithmetic 


20 


B Arithmetic 


15 


C Arithmetic 


10 


Second reader 


10 


Writing. 


10 


Recess 


15 


Third reader 


10 




10 


Fourth reader 


10 


A Grammar 


25 


B Grammar 


20 


Noon 


60 


A Geography ... 


20 


B Geography 


15 



18 SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 

Table 7. — Daily programs of the schools of Mount Joy Township — Continued. 
TWO TAVERNS— Continued. 



Subjects. 




I-ength 
of recita- 
tion in 
minutes. 



Primary reading 

Third reader 

Second reader 

A History 

B Physiology ( Monday and Tuesday) — 
History (Wednesday, Thiu-sday, Friday) 

Recess 

Fifth reader 

Primary 

A Physiology 

C Spelling 

B Spelling 

A Spelling 



1.05- 
1.15- 
1.30- 
1.45- 



1.15 
1.30 
1.45 
2.05 



2. 05- 2. 20 



2.20- 
2.35- 
2.45- 
2.50- 
3.00- 
3.10- 
3.20- 



2.35 
2.45 
2.50 
3.00 
3.10 
3.20 
3.30 



PLEASANT GROVE. 





8. 30- 8. 35 

8. 35- 9. 15 

9. 15- 9. 25 

9. 25- 9. 35 

9. 35- 9. 45 

9. 45-10. 00 

10. 00-10. 15 

10.15-10.25 

10. 25-10. 35 

10. 3&-10. 45 

10.45-10.55 

10.55-11.10 

11.10-11.15 

11.15-11.22 

11.22-11.30 

11. 30-12. 30 

12. 30-12. 40 

12.40- 1.15 

1.15- 1.25 

1.25- 1.35 

1. 3.5- 1. 50 

1. 50- 2. 00 
2.00- 2.15 
2. 15- 2. 30 

2. .30- 2. 45 
2. 45- 3. 00 
3. 00- 3. 15 
3.15- 3.30 


5 




40 


Fifth reader 


10 


Third reader 


10 




10 




15 




15 




10 




10 




10 




10 




15 


C Spelling 


5 


B Spelling . . 


7 




8 




60 




10 




35 




10 




10 




15 




10 




15 




15 


First reader 


15 




15 




15 




15 







WHITE RUN. 



Opening exercises 

Fu-st-year reader 

Second-year reader 

Third-year reader 

Fourth-year reader 

Sixth and seventh year readers 

Fifth-year history and physiology, alternate 

Recess 

Number work 

Sixth and seventh year history and physiology, alternate 

Second and third year arithmetic 

Fifth-year arithmetic , 

Sixth-year arithmetic 

Seventh-year arithmetic 

Noon 

Music 

First-year reading 

Second-year reading , 

Third-year reading 

Fifth-year language 

Seventh-year grammar 

Penmanship , 

Recess 

First-year reading 

Second-year reading , 

Fifth-year geography 

Sixth !ind seventh j'car geography 

Three classes in spelling 



8. 30- 8. 40 

8. 40- 8. 55 
S. 55- 9. 10 
9. 10- 9. 20 
9.20- 9.35 

9. 3.5- 9. 50 
9. 50-10. 00 

10. 00-10. 10 

10. 10-10. 20 

10. 20-10. 30 

10. ,30-10. 45 

10. 4.5-11. 00 

11.00-11.15 

11.1,5-11.30 

11.30-12.30 

12. 31V12. 40 

12. 4a-12. 55 

12. r>5- 1. 10 

1.10- 1.20 

1.20- 1.30 

1.30- 1.45 

1.4,5- 2.00 

2.00- 2.10 

2. 10- 2. 20 

2. 20- 2. 35 

2. 3.5- 2. 50 

2. .50- 3. 05 

3. 05- 3. 30 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 



19 



Table 7. — Daily programs of the schools of Mount Joy Township — Continued. 

EDGE GROVE. 



Subjects. 




Length 
of recita- 
tion, in 
minutes. 



Opening exercises 

Number worlc 

B Arithmetic 

A Arithmetic 

C Arithmetic 

A History 

Recess 

Primary class 

First Reader 

A Grammar 

B Grammar 

Noon 

Singing 

Primary class 

Second "Reader 

Fifth Reader 

Fourth Reader 

Third Reader 

A Physiology and civics, alternate . . 
B History and physiology, alternate 

Writing 

Recess 

Primary class 

First reader 

A Geography 

B Geography 

C Spelling 

B Spening 

A Spelling 



9. 00- 9. 10 

9. 10- 9. 25 

9. 25- 9. 40 

9. 40-10. GO 

10.00-10.15 

10. 15-10. 30 

10.30-10.45 

10.45-11.00 

11.00-11.10 

11.10-11.30 

11.30-12.00 

12.00- 1.00 

1.00- 1.10 

1.10- 1.20 

1.20- 1.30 

1.30- 1.40 

1.40- 1.50 

1. 50- 2. 00 
2. 00- 2. 10 
2. 10- 2. 20 
2. 20- 2. 30 
2. 30- 2. 45 

2. 4.5- 3. 00 
3. 00- 3. 10 
3. 10- 3. 20 
3. 20- 3. 30 
3. 30- 3. 40 
3. 40- 3. 50 

3. 50- 4. 00 



HORNER'S. 



Opening exercises 

Number work 

D Arithmetic 

C Arithmetic 

B Arithmetic 

A Arithmetic 

Recess 

First reader 

Second reader, language, 1 day 

Third reader, language, 1 day 

B Physiology 

A History 

B History 

Noon 

First and second readers 

Third reader, 2 days, physiology, 3 days 

Fourth reader 

A and B Grammar 

Writing 

Recess 

First reader 

D and C Spelling 

A Physiology or civics 

B Geography 

A Geography 

B SpelUng 

A Spelling 



9. 00- 9. 15 


15 


9. 15- 9. 30 


15 


9. 30- 9. 45 


15 


9. 45-10. 00 


15 


10.00-10.15 


15 


10. 15-10. 30 


15 


10.30-10.45 


15 


10.45-11.00 


15 


11.00-11.10 


10 


11.10-11.20 


10 


11.20-11.30 


10 


11.30-11.45 


15 


11.45-12.00 


15 


12.00- 1.00 


60 


1.00- 1.25 


25 


1. 25- 1. 35 


10 


1.35- 1.45 


10 


1.45- 2.15 


30 


2.15- 2.30 


15 


2. 30- 2. 45 


15 


2. 45- 2. 50 


5 


2. 50- 3. 00 


10 


3.00- 3.15 


15 


3. 15- 3. 30 


15 


3.30- 3.45 


15 


.3.45- 4.00 


15 



OAK GROVE. 



Opening exercises 

Primer, first and second readers 

Third reader 

A History 

B History 

Fifth reader 

Fourth reader 

Recess 

Number class 

D Arithmetic 

C Arithmetic 



8.30-8.40 


10 


8. 40- 9. 05 


25 


9.05- 9.20 


15 


9. 20- 9. 30 


10 


9. 30- 9. 40 


10 


9. 40- 9. 50 


10 


9. 50-10. 00 


10 


10.00-10.15 


16 


10. 15-10. 30 


15 


10.30-10.40 


10 


10. 40-10. 50 


10 



20 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 



Table 7. — Daily programs of the schools of Mount Joy Township — Continued. 
OAK GROVE— Continued. 



Subjects. 



B Arithmetic 

A Aritlinietic 

"Writing 

Noon 

Primer and first reader 

Second reader 

C Grammar 

B Grammar 

Third reader 

A Geography 

B Geography 

Recess 

Primer 

First reader 

Third reader 

B Physiology ... 

A Physiology 

Spelling 




50-11. 00 
00-11.15 
15-11.30 
30-12.30 
30-12. 50 
50- 1. 00 
00- 1.10 
10- 1. 20 
20- 1.35 
35- 1. 45 
45- 2. 00 
00- 2. 15 
1.5- 2. 30 
30- 2. 40 
40- 3.00 
00- 3. 10 
10- 3. 20 
20- 3. 30 



Length. 

of recita- 
tion, in 

minutes. 



10 

15 
15 
60 
20 
10 
10 
10 
15 
10 
15 
15 
15 
10 
20 
10 
10 
10 



FAIR VIEW. 



Opening exercises . 
Primer. 



Second reader . 
A History 



E History 

Third reader 

Fourth reader 

Fifth reader 

Recess 

Number work — 

A Grammar 

E Grammar 

A, E, B Spelling. 
B Arithmetic 



Noon. 

Intermediate arithmetic. 

Advanced arithmetic — 

Primer. 



Second reader. 
A Geography.. 
Penmanship . . 
Recess . 



B Geography 2. 

A Physiology , 3, 

Third reader 3 



B Physiology 

A Supplementary work. 



00- 9. 10 
10- 9. 20 
20- 9. 30 
30- 9. 45 
45-10.00 
00-10. 10 
10-10. 20 
20-10. 30 
30-10. 45 
45-10. 55 
55-11. 10 
10-11. 25 
25-11. 45 
45-12.00 
00- 1.00 
00- 1.15 
15- 1. 30 
30- 1. 40 
40- 1.50 
50- 2. 10 
10- 2. 30 
30- 2. 45 
45- 3.00 
00- 3. 15 
15- 3. 30 
30- 3. 45 
45- 4.00 



10 
10 
10 
15 
15 
10 
10 
10 
15 
10 
15 
15 
20 
15 
60 
15 
15 
10 
10 
20 
20 
15 
15 
15 
15 
15 
15 



A new iitlan for organization and curriculum. — The township is not 
yet ready to establish a four-year high school. Only 5 pupils finished 
the eighth grade during the school year just ended. These, with 10 
pupils now enrolled in the neighboring high schools and a few addi- 
tional ones who probably have fulfilled entrance requirements but 
remain out of school because they are unable to assume the expense 
necessary under present conditions, would bring the attendance not 
above 20. This number is too small to insure school interest or to 
justify the expensive equipment and the number of special teachers 
necessary for an efficient high school. 

The educational welfare of the children will probably be best 
served by organizing on the 6-3-3 plan, and for the present paying 
tuition outside the township for those enrolled in the last three years 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 21 

of secondary schools. With this arrangement, it would be possible 
to offer far better advantages to those enrolled in the elementary 
course as well as to those who complete a four-year high-school course; 
the number who fail to complete high school would be better served 
and would have a far more practical education. As soon as the num- 
ber of pupils of high-school age justifies it, the full 12-year course 
should be provided by the establishment of a senior high school. 

This plan will necessitate a new and quite different course of 
study. The first six grades will, as now, be concerned chiefly with 
fundamentals. Topics for teaching should be organized in relation 
to and from the point of view of the experience and environment of 
the children of the township. The course should include the distinctly 
modern phases of education, such as music, literature, the fine and 
industrial arts, with emphasis on appreciation. Nature study, 
elementary agriculture, school gardening, play and recreation, 
sanitation and hygiene, some form of industrial work or sewing, 
dramatization and story telling should have generous provision. 
Properly taught, this kind of a course should take the emphasis from 
memorization of the textbook and place it upon proper training. 

The junior high-school course should include some electives, but 
the list of required subjects should be comparatively long, and that 
of electives short, increasing during the second and third years. 
The required subjects in the junior high school should include three 
years of English and literature ; two of mathematics ; three years of his- 
tory — mostly American — and civics, including civil government; three 
years of geography and elementary science; three years of physical 
education; one year of hygiene and sanitation; two years of home 
economics; two years of agriculture, and three years each of music, 
art, and current events — each of the last three once or twice a week. 
Industrial arts, bookkeepmg and farm accounting, Latin and a m.odern 
language might be offered as electives. 

School attendance. — Such a course of study would be so practical 
in its appeal as to be sufficient incentive for most children to attend 
school regularly during the full term. The people should expect no 
less. However, the new school organization should be equipped to 
enforce the compulsory attendance law. The fullest use of the school 
plant by the childi-en of the community is by no means the least 
important effect of school consolidation, as shown by experience 
throughout the coimtry. The daily attendance in the township 
should show an increase of at least 20 per cent on enrollment and 30 
per cent on census enumeration. 

Supervision and instruction. — The effectiveness of the scheme for 
reorganizing and making practical the content of the subject matter 
taught will be dependent upon the selection of a competent corps of 
teachers and a principal with qualities of leadership, administrative 



22 SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 

power, and organizing ability. The Pennsylvania school system does 
not provide for adequate professional supervision of rural schools. 
The county superintendent and his assistants are not able to visit 
each school more than once or twice a year. These visits have some 
value, but chiefly in giving these officers knowledge of school condi- 
tions. They are too short and infrequent to be of more than transitory 
help to the teachers in meeting the constantly recurring problems in 
discipline, organization, and methods. It is necessary, therefore, for 
the township to engage a principal who is qualified by training and 
experience to supervise teaching in the schools, as well as to organize 
and manage. The employment of a group of trained teachers will be 
necessary to complete the plan for an effective school system. After 
all, the results of the schools must depend finally and wholly upon the 
teachers. Not to provide the best that can be had is social, civic, and 
economic folly. 

Though a consolidated school will cost much more than the one- 
room schools, it would be more economical in the sense of giving a 
larger return on the investment and greater dividends for the boys 
and girls on the same principle. No farmer in Mount Joy Township 
cuts his wheat with a sickle, though one can be purchased for $1. 
He uses a self-binder which costs S200 because he knows that he gets 
a larger return on the $200 invested in the self-binder than on the $1 
invested in a sickle. 



V. CONSOLIDATION IN OTHER STATES. 

School consolidation has passed the stage of experiment, and the 
movement is accepted everywhere as good educational policy. The 
consolidation of schools is now considered so necessary for improving 
rural schools that State legislatures generally are appropriating funds 
to aid districts to consolidate their schools. Only recently the legisla- 
ture of Pennsylvania made an appropriation for this purpose. From 
data submitted to the Bureau of Education it appears that the num- 
ber of consolidated schools in the United States greatly exceeds 
10,000, and it is increasing rapidly. 

Effect on school attendance. — Wherever schools have been consoli- 
dated the enrollment has increased and attendance has become more 
regular. Several illustrations may be given: At Fivepoints, Ala., 
three or four schools were consolidated. The total enrollment in all 
these schools before consolidation was 113. A year later the enroll- 
ment in the consolidated school was 190, an increase of 78. Under 
the old plan there were only 13 pupils attending high school. Now, 
four years later, there is a four-year high-school department with an 
enrollment of 52. The increase in enrollment in the elementary 
grades is 68 per cent, and in the high school 300 per cent. 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 23 

The State superintendent of public instruction in Tennessee com- 
piled the following data regarding school attendance in 34 consoli- 
dated schools in that State: 

Number of pupils enrolled in schools abandoned 3, 101 

Number of pupils enrolled in consolidated schools 4, 014 

Per cent of increase 29. 4 

Average daily attendance in abandoned schools 2, 291 

Average daily attendance in consolidated schools 3, 271 

Per cent of increase 42.8 

The State superintendent of public instruction of Oklahoma, in his 
report for 1916, says: 

Ninety-nine per cent of the enumeration was enrolled in the consolidated school 
last year, •while only 86 per cent of the enumeration was enrolled in the common- 
school districts the year before they were consolidated. The average daily attend- 
ance, based on the enumeration, was 62 per cent in the consolidated districts, as 
compared with 55 per cent in the original districts. 

Many other examples could be given to show that the consolidation 
of schools has increased the enrollment and made attendance more 
regular. In fact every report on consolidation shows that school 
attendance is better in consolidated than in one-room schools. 

The trans'portation of pupils. — It has been found that the success 
of consolidation depends more largely upon efficient transportation 
than any other factor. This difficulty has, however, been overcome 
in practically every instance. Dr. Thomas E. Finnegan, when 
deputy commissioner of education of New York, asked the following 
question of State superintendents and others:* "Have you been able 
to establish a system of transportation for the children which is 
satisfactory to the people generally and which does not operate 
hardship upon the children?" 

The answers may be summarized as follows: A satisfactory system 
of transportation is the most difficult problem to solve; it has been 
solved most satisfactorily when the children are not on the road more 
than an hour. A businesslike management and district ownership of 
wagons have met most of the objections. A few typical replies are 
given herewith: 

Hon. C. P. Gary, State superintendent of public instruction, Wis- 
consin, says: 

The transportation problem seems to solve itself whenever the people decide to 
adopt the new plan. This is a business undertaking and can be settled in a satis- 
factory way. In fact, transportation on a reasonably large scale is likely to prove more 
satisfactory than transportation on a small scale. 

1 New York State Report, vol. 2, 1917. 



24 SCHOOLS OF MOUISTT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 

Hon. H. A. Davee, State superintendent of public instruction 
Montana, writes: 

Except on some of the very long roads (some of them 8 miles), the people are well 
satisfied with transportation. In some cases children have to start early and get 
home late, but in all cases during the cold weather the children who come in the 
wagons, no matter how far, arrive at school in better condition than those who travel 
thi'ough the cold and snow. 

Hon. H. Lugg, State superintendent of public instruction, South 
Dakota, says: 

We have not found a system of transportation that is perfect, but district owner- 
ship of school wagons with bonded drivers is as satisfactory as any we have tried. 
We find that a route should not be longer than can be driven in one hour, even when 
the roads are bad. Our routes average about 5 miles and we have little complaint, 
except from people who are not inclined to accept any inconvenience personally 
for the good of their community, and we feel that such selfishness should be ignored. 

The following is a detailed statement of consolidation and trans- 
portation in one of the most progressive counties in Ohio: 



SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 



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SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 27 

Effect on land value. — One objection heard in communities that 
have not consolidated their schools is that, if the one-room schools 
near the homes of the children should be abandoned, farm values 
would decrease in the outlying territory and increase near the 
consolidated school. Experience, however, proves that land values 
always increase, not only near the consolidated school but through- 
out the entire consolidated district. 

Another question Dr. Thomas E. Finnegan asked of a number of 
State superintendents and others was: ''What effect has the estab- 
lishment of consolidated schools had upon the value of farm property 
within the territory where such schools have been consolidated?" 
All replied that such property had increased in value. A few re- 
plies are quoted: 

Hon. F. B. Pearson, State Commissioner of Education of Ohio: 

The consolidation of schools has had a marked effect upon the value of farm property 
where the system exists. Farmers who reside in such communities are confident 
that the value of their farms has been increased from $5 to $20 an acre. As farms 
are advertised for sale it is noticeable that there is an increased number of advertise- 
ments that contain as a desirable point of information that these fanns are located 
in school districts which have the advantage of centralized schools. It is easy to 
imderstand why centralization does raise farm values. Persons who are interested 
in the education of their children, and these persons are always the most desirat)le 
citizens for any community, prefer residences in communities where the schools are 
centralized. 

Hon. C. P. Gary, State Superintendent of Instruction of Wisconsin: 

The establishment of a good school in any community always increases the valua- 
tion of farm territory. People who are looking for places to make their homes always 
take the school into account when they buy property. If there is a good school in 
the community they will pay more for a piece of land than if their children had to 
attend a poor school. 

Otlier effects. — Among other advantages that have accrued from 
the consolidation of schools may be mentioned: 

1. Greater pride and interest in country life. 

2. Better school buildings and equipment. 

3. Enrichment of the civic and social life of the community. 

4. Improved agricultural conditions including improved roads. 

5. Increased number of pupils in the eighth grade. 

6. Tendency to check the drift of young people to the larger 
towns and cities. 

The advantages of consolidation may be summarized in the words 
of a farmer writing in regard to the consolidation of schools in his 
district: ^ 

■ I will try to write you a few lines about our consolidated school. When they com- 
menced to get the school I was against it. I did not think it would do, but there was 
enough for it to get it. I have been sending to school there thi-ee years, and the more 

> New York State report, vol. 2, 1917. 



28 SCHOOLS OF MOUNT JOY TOWNSHIP, PA. 

I send the better I like it. I ■will say to people in your community if they want a 
new school this is the best for them. It takes some more money to run it, but like 
you do ■with your horse ■when he is just about ■worn out, trade it off and give the 
difference and say you made a good trade. Put your little schools together and 
you -^vill make another good trade. I can tell you all, it is just like running your farm 
with plenty of tools and ■without much team you can not do much. When you get 
your little schools all together it is just like taking a handful of little sticks, one of 
them is easily broken, but put them all together and they are hard to break. By 
doing this you can get good teachers, and I find out that is the life of the school. 
Before the schools here ■were consolidated there ■was al-ways confusion in the schools. 
Since ■we have tried it I can say for myself I -Would not take any kind of a price for it 
and do without it. When the school started the children didn't think they could 
go to such a school, but now they laugh about the little old schoolhouse and they say 
now they would not go back to it for anything. You have been feeding your pigs 
for a long time and I guess they are fine. Now let us give our children a better 
chance and see how they will do. When we train our horses we can get better prices 
for them and put more confidence in them; try your children the same way. 



VI. SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS. 

The outstanding needs of the people of Mount Joy Township from 
an educational standpoint may be summarized under two heads, as 
follows : 

I. A bond issue of at least $55,000. This money should finance 
the following: 

1. A modern school building, preferably on the unit plan, in which 
to consolidate or centralize the seven small schools. 

2. At least 10 acres of ground for school site at some central 
location, preferably near Two Taverns. 

3. A teachers' cottage on the grounds or near the schoolhouse. 
The principal at least should live here and be employed for 12 months 
of the year. 

4. A satisfactory method for transporting children to the school- 
house. The purchase of two large motor trucks is recommended. 

II. An increased rate of school taxation, probably 20 mills. The 
annual income would then be sufficient to support an effective school 
systemi involving at least the following: 

1. The employment of a competent and professionally trained 
principal and corps of six teachers. Two or three of the teachers 
should be selected because of special fitness to teach one or more 
of the following subjects: Agriculture, home economics, and indus- 
trial arts and fine arts, and to direct recreational activities and 
physical education. 

2. A modernized curriculum adapted to the needs of the rural 
community. 

3. A school and community library. 

4. Arrangements which facilitate centering at the schoolhouse the 
activities of a community organization. 

o 



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